Tag: Sin

The Testimony of the Lord is sure

Posted on by ascendthehill

“Who against hope believed in hope… and being not weak in faith… He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.”

from Romans 4:18-20

The above scripture is in reference to Abraham, the father of our faith. The Bible is very clear about the shortcomings of our forefathers. It shows where Abraham lied a couple times and where he doubted if the promise would happen. Except, in this retelling of Abraham’s story, those moments are not even mentioned. It seems that God did not even care to bring them up. Why? Because God is love, and love keeps no record of wrongdoing. Love sees the best even when the opposite is showing itself. Love perseveres.

It’s amazing the way God sees things versus the way the accuser sees them. God sees past our shortcomings and sees the finished work of His Son Jesus. The accuser, however, only focuses on our failures and tries to disqualify us based on that.

You see a moment in your life does not define who you are. It’s only a moment. Those were only moments in Abraham’s life, and his story did not end there. God continued to encourage and speak to him, and Abraham believed in the One who promised.

Don’t let satan continue to accuse you for things that have happened. People may bring up your shortcomings and failures, but those people are only looking at the flesh. God never said that flesh would inherit the kingdom.

Zaccheus, A sinner Son

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

And [Zaccheus] hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.

When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”

But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

NASB, Luke 19:1-10

When Jesus called out to Zaccheus people in that community began to bring up all his sins and shortcomings. Do you think that the Lord didn’t know about Zaccheus’ sins before he had called him? Of course, he did. He knew exactly who Zaccheus was and what he had done; yet, this knowledge did not prevent the Lord from calling him. It may have offended everyone around Zaccheus, but God’s choice remained the same.

While the rest of the town was saying he was a child of the devil, Jesus declared his true identity over him. Jesus, contrary to public opinion, continued to affirm Zaccheus. Once Zaccheus finished speaking Jesus continued with his redemptive purpose in Zaccheus’ life. He declared plainly for all the accusers to hear, “…[Zaccheus], too, is a son of Abraham.”

God’s testimony is a more sure word than human verdicts

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.”

NKJV, 1 Corinthians 4:3

People may cast judgment toward you, but God’s word is the only one that matters. There may have been times when you were wrongfully accused or rightfully condemned, but God holds the final say in all things. It was the Law that condemned the woman caught in adultery, but Jesus Christ, the Son, set her free (see John 8:1-12). You see human judgments are just that, human. They do not hold the final verdict, that belongs to God alone. People may judge and cast stones without giving any grace, but remember “Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ” (from John 1:17).

God’s testimony is much more gracious towards you than you may believe. He is the savior, who came into this world to seek and save that which was lost. You may be like Zaccheus, listening to the crowd calling you a sinner unfit to have Jesus in your home, but Jesus is calling you a son. Turn off the noise of this world, and cling to the voice of your savior.

“For I know nothing by myself; yet I am not justified by this: but he that judges me is the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 4:4

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (NLT, Proverbs 4:23).

People may continue to speak against you. People may partner with the devil and bring up all your sins. People may condemn you and throw rocks at you, but don’t allow that to penetrate your heart. If the devil can get a person to believe from their heart the accusations spoken against them then he can try to set the course of their life.

“But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues”

Jesus our Divine Judge, Matthew 10:17

“…But take courage; I have overcome the world!” (Jesus, the Savior).

You may have found yourself in a position where you’ve believed the accusations from your heart. If you have found yourself beaten down by the accuser, believing the lies that he has spoken over you do not lose hope! Even there our savior’s hand is reaching out to keep you!

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

NKJV, 1 John 3:20

Stand strong before God and believe in his steadfast love and devotion toward you. God’s promises never fail. Continue to seek his face. He sees you. He’s always been faithful. He’s never failed. His mercies are new every morning!

I love you guys! When the world is against you and people have judged you harshly just remember the Holy Spirit’s testimony of your story is much different than you think. God doesn’t hold things against you. “…[Love] keeps no record of wrongs” (from 1 Corinthians 13:5) and our God is love! Keep pressing in He is for you! He loves you more than you could know!

Serpents and Eye Drops

Posted on by ascendthehill

Your Old men will Dream Dreams…

I guess I’m getting old because last night God gave me a dream lol. It was a dream of instruction, but before we get into that I wanted to say a little bit about dreams. Dreams have been a way that God has communicated with people all throughout history. We see when Abram was with God and asleep that he began to have a nightmare. And then God started to share with Abram about how his children were going to be in bondage (Found in Gen. chapter 15).

We also see Jacob’s dream of the gate of heaven (Gen. 28). Joseph’s life had numerous dreams, the first few were his own. Then he was sent to interpret others. The book of Daniel is riddled with dreams and visions.

In Joel 2:28 the Lord says, “…it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” We see that God has been in the business of using dreams to communicate with people all throughout history and he is still in that same business today. He says, “ For I am the Lord, I change not…” (From Malachi 3:6).

For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword.

Job 33:14-18

Many times God does instruct us at night and speaks to us through dreams. It is a way for him to speak without all the clutter of our minds getting in the way. I believe it is very important for a person to be aware of their dreams, and seek God for the interpretation.

Not all dreams are safe to share with others, just take a look at what happened with Joseph. So be careful with whom you share your dreams. “Don’t give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine…” (From Matthew 7:6).

With that being said, I am choosing to share this dream because God told me to. He wanted me to write about it on this blog. So, let’s go ahead and jump into it.

Snakes and Antidotes

In the dream, I was watching the development of a nature show. They were doing a special on venomous snakes. They had different video clips of various species of venomous snakes, but in one video I saw the host of the show around a black mamba.

The host was standing behind an open door and the black mamba was outside in a field area. When the snake saw him it slithered right up to him. It came up right outside of the doorway. The snake never came inside but was just outside the open door. The host was toying with the snake. He would stick his leg in front of its head, and then quickly move it out of the way when the snake would strike.

The host was actually trying to get bit by the snake because they wanted to film what he experienced from the bite. The host gets bit and the snake latches on to him for a little longer than I would expect. I thought to myself that it was unleashing more venom than normal.

The next thing I know I am in the hospital seeing this man, and he is in excruciating pain. He is begging for the antidote! They administer the antidote to him, but the way they applied the antidote was very unusual. The antidote was eye drops, and they put a few of the drops in his eye. I didn't understand how eye drops were going to help this man. I thought maybe the antidote would be absorbed into his body and cleanse his body of the toxins. The dream ends.

You are the house of the Lord

The first thing I want to expound on is the open door. In certain circles of Christian teachings, we use this type of terminology to basically say that if you open a door then the devil has some type of legal entry into you. I want to say this is not true for a person who is redeemed by Jesus. If you were bought by the blood of Jesus Christ then the LORD is your owner and he won’t have a devil in his house.

You are the house of God. “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Does this mean you can’t stick your foot outside the house to get bit? Of course, you can, but preferentially you wouldn’t do that.

Likewise, in the dream, the snake never entered the door. It stayed outside of the open door while the man kept putting his leg in front of its mouth. If the snake had access he would have simply slithered right through the door and bit the man.

Snakes: A Work of the Devil

It was the form of a serpent that the devil chose when he worked rebellion into the earth (aka sin). The snakes represented sin or a work of the devil. I was reminded of an instance in Israel’s history while they were in the wilderness and venomous snakes were released on them.

…The people grew impatient on the journey and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.”

So Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

Numbers 21:4-9

Jesus uses this story when talking to Nicodemus to describe how he must die in order to give life to the world. He says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” The same way Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness Jesus needed to be lifted up. Remember that the serpent represents sin. Jesus became sin for us when he was hanging on the tree. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor. 5:21).

The Remedy

You might be asking, Why does this even matter? What does this have to do with the dream? Well, I am glad you asked. The antidote to the poison was eye drops! The antidote for the man getting bitten was not an antivenom it was eye drops. The man needed to get his vision restored.

He needed to get his eyes back on the cross, and everything God had done for him there. He needed to remind himself of the great love that was displayed to save him from death. He needed to see the depth of God’s dedication towards his salvation.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Romans 8:31-35

God bless you guys! God is for us! There was never a moment in Father’s heart that was divided about you. He has always had a resounding yes when thinking about your redemption from the grave. There is no variation or shadow due to change with him (from James 1:17).

Does God Clear the Guilty?

Posted on by ascendthehill

In Exodus 34 God says that he by no means clears the guilty! We know that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so how can He forgive us? Find out in this latest video.